any souring reminders of unsatisfied ambitions, or regret, amid the quietude and kindly surroundings of an affectionate and solicitous home circle, that the days of his personal ascendancy and power were

no more.

But to most of us, interest in Bismarck, as in the case of all eminent public men, is not confined to the historic life; we are all concerned in knowing something of

the personal life and of the inner man. Above all, we like to look at portraits, the most interesting of human documents, and to read or hear anecdotes that throw light upon the personal disposition and reveal character. Favoring circumstances have enabled the writer to bring before the reader of these pages some characteristic portraits of the veteran statesman of the Fatherland.

They present him, as he was best known, in

later life, and

with the lineaments of face and figure such as will pass into history. Their interest must be great to the student of politics, as well as to those who are curious on the subject of physiognomy. They reveal Prince Bismarck in the various responsible occupations and eventful phases of his career. We see him in the

Council Chamber; in colloquy with his young master the Emperor; on the field of battle, and taking part in the pageantry of the parade ground; as well as in his peaceful home in the Saxon forest. In these several phases in which the artist has depicted him, the personality of this idol of the German people is admirably portrayed. In each unconscious pose and attitude we have an interesting and

distinct study; in all of them we recognize the colossal embodiment, of which his countrymen are naturally so proud, of "the German spirit and the German sword."* Now that he has passed away, the nation, we note, hastens to place in the capital of the Empire some enduring memorial of the Titanic figure to whom it owes its eminence. We may trust the present Emperor that while the memorial will be worthy of Bismarck's fame, it will also redound to the honor of the Fatherland and exalt the memory of the kingly

ings to which we allude, especially the canvases that depict dramatic incidents in the Franco-German War and glorify the refounding of the German empire. They embrace the memorials of conquest and national aggrandizement, from the easels of Camphausen, Anton von Werner, and Carl Wagner, with reproductions of the famous Bismarck portraits and pastels of Gustav Asmuss and Ewald Thiel. Το these the art student, when abroad, will turn for graphic delineations of the pageantry of history and for excellent ex

character to whom Bismarck was above all men loyal.

Bismarck's most imperishable monument is, undoubtedly, the united Germany which his genius has raised. The Fatherland, however, possesses many striking portraits and other art memorials of this conspicuous figure in continental Europe that represent him in familiar historic aspects. Those acquainted with German artist life in Berlin will know the paint

*The illustrations in this article, which are copyright, the writer owes to the courtesy of the publishers of "Germany's Iron Chancellor," by Bruno Garlepp. Translated from the original German and edited by Sidney Whitman, F.R.G.S.. author of "Imperial Germany," "The Realm of the Habsburgs," etc.

amples of color work in figure-drawing and grouping. Equally remarkable, he will find, is the emblematic procession, entitled the "Apotheosis of Emperor William," by Ferdinand Keller, though the most striking works, from a military point of view, are, perhaps, von Werner's "Meeting of Bismarck and Napoleon on the Causeway of Donchery," Camphausen's "On the Morning after the Battle of Sedan,» and the same artist's "Hail to the Chief," which depicts the entry of King William into Berlin on his return from the Siege of Paris and the historic function at Versailles. Imposing, also, are the canvases, crowded with the chief military

leaders and great personages of State, such as von Werner's "Berlin Congress," the "Negotiations after the Capitulation of Sedan," "William proclaimed Emperor of Germany at Versailles," and the "Opening of the Reichstag" by the present Kaiser, in June, 1888. These canvases are splendid memorials of national episodes in the recent history of the German Fatherland, and are at the same time high tributes to the important part played by Bismarck in the evolution of the nation.

But we return to the pictures that embellish these pages, and to the characteristic Bismarckian portraits. Of the first group, the one that possesses most historic and military interest is the mounted figures of King William I. Bismarck, and von Moltke, on the battlefield of Königgrätz, or Sadowa. The artist (Carl Sellmer) here seizes the moment when Bismarck expostulates with

the

king for exposing himself needlessly to the risks of the battlefield, amidst a storm of shells that spread havoc over the scene. It is the moment described by the Prince, in a letter to his wife, just before victory crowned the masterly strategy of General von Moltke, when, as he writes, "the king exposed himself to a hot fire, while a group of ten troopers and fifteen horses of the Sixth Regiment of Cuirassiers lay bleeding at our feet." The return to the capital, after this decisive defeat of the Austrians, not only evoked the heartiest enthusiasm of the Berlin populace for the king and his generals, but reversed the feeling of the nation for Bismarck, who had previously been the "best hated" man in Prussia. The two portraits on pages 2 and 7 are characteristic likenesses of the Imperial Chancellor, to which high post he had been elevated on King William's assumption of the title and dignity

of Emperor. One of these represents the Prince in 1877, in his favorite blue military tunic, with the single decoration of the Iron Cross on his breast. The other represents the prince in 1883, in regulation dress with field cap and full beard. Both pictures are from photographs by Loescher and Petsch of Berlin.

The later portraits on pages 3 and 9, in civilian garb, do the most justice to the Prince, and are obviously the most artistic likenesses, while they bring out the distinctive personality of Bismarck. They belong severally to the years 1893 and 1894. One (that on page 3) is from a photograph by E. Bieber of Berlin and Hamburg; the other (with hat and staff) is from a painting by F.v. Lenbach. The former of the two shows the massive head, deeply chiselled features, shaggy brows, and heavy mustache familiar to all who have seen and conversed with the "Iron